From: "Glenn Meadows" 

Could be willful passive, since I would think an active jam would be too
hard to control inexpensively.

--

Glenn M.
"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in
message news:45b81fe1{at}w3.nls.net...
> Do they have to have special FCC approval to jam or do they use the
> passive (legal) block?
>
> http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-jammer5.htm
>
> In the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and many other countries,
> blocking cell-phone services (as well as any other electronic
> transmissions) is against the law. In the United States, cell-phone
> jamming is covered under the Communications Act of 1934, which prohibits
> people from "willfully or maliciously interfering with the radio
> communications of any station licensed or authorized" to operate. In fact,
> the "manufacture, importation, sale or offer for sale, including
> advertising, of devices designed to block or jam wireless transmissions is
> prohibited" as well
>
> Jamming is seen as property theft, because a private company has purchased
> the rights to the radio spectrum, and jamming the spectrum is akin to
> stealing the property the company has purchased. It also represents a
> safety hazard because jamming blocks all calls in the area, not just the
> annoying ones. Jamming a signal could block the call of a babysitter
> frantically trying to contact a parent or a someone trying to call for an
> ambulance.
>
> The Federal Communications Commission is charged with enforcing jamming
> laws. However, the agency has not yet prosecuted anyone for cell-phone
> jamming. Under the U.S. rules, fines for a first offense can range as high
> as $11,000 for each violation or imprisonment for up to one year, and the
> device used may also be seized and forfeited to the government.
>
> While the law clearly prohibits using a device to actively disrupt a
> cell-phone signal, there are no rules against passive cell-phone blocking.
> That means using things like wallpaper or building materials embedded with
> metal fragments to prevent cell-phone signals from reaching inside or
> outside the room. Some buildings have designs that block radio signals by
> accident due to thick concrete walls or a steel skeleton.
>
>
> "Glenn Meadows"  wrote in message
> news:45b813e7$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Jamming/block.  Like many theaters are doing now.
>>
>> I walk into a local cinema, and my cell phone goes from full 6 bars to no
>> service, in the space of 50 feet, from the lobby to into the theater
>> itself.
>>
>> --
>>
>> Glenn M.
>> "John Beamish"  wrote in message
>> news:op.tmotcikpm6tn4t{at}dellblack.wlfdle.phub.net.cable.rogers.com...
>>> On an etiquette issue:  I've heard that some commuter trains in NY have
>>> a "no cell phones" permitted.  True?  False?  How is it done?
>>>
>>> On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:54:39 -0500, Rich Gauszka
>>>  wrote:
>>>
>>>> "Table for two? Will that be cell phone or non-cell
phone?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2556550,00.html
>>>>
>>>> Could these be the cigarettes of the 21st century? . . .
'Absolutely'
>>>>
>>>> # It's right to have worries, says expert
>>>> # 'Don't buy phones for primary pupils'
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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